Hosie~ One Shots

A New Family Member

Hope Mikaelson had always believed in fairy tales. She believed in them when she was little, listening to her father tell stories before bed. She believed in them when she met Landon, thinking he was her prince charming. And she believed in them when they got married and had Andrea, their perfect little girl.

But fairy tales didn't always have happy endings.

Landon had broken her heart. The late nights at work, the hushed phone calls, the smell of someone else's perfume on his clothes—Hope had ignored the signs for as long as she could, desperate to keep their family together. But when the truth became undeniable, she made the hardest choice of her life. She left.

Raising Andrea alone wasn't easy, but Hope had never really been alone. Josie Saltzman had been there from the start.

Josie had been her best friend since childhood, the one constant in her life. When Hope's world fell apart, Josie had picked up the pieces. She helped with Andrea, read bedtime stories, braided her hair, and wiped her tears when she missed her father. She was "Auntie Josie," Andrea's safe place when Hope was struggling to be strong.

Landon, on the other hand, barely made an effort. His calls became less frequent, his visits rare. He always had an excuse—he was sick, he had work, something always came up. Andrea stopped asking after a while, but Hope saw the hurt in her daughter's eyes every time he canceled.

Josie saw it too.

Two years later, on Andrea's tenth birthday, Landon made her a promise.

"I'll take you to Disneyland," he had said, excitement lighting up Andrea's face.

Hope hadn't trusted him to follow through, but she had held her tongue. Andrea wanted to believe in her father.

That morning, Josie came over to help set up for the party. Hope was icing the cake when the phone rang. She wiped her hands on a towel and looked at Josie.

"Can you get that?"

Josie nodded and picked up. "Hello?"

There was a pause before a familiar voice filled the line. "Josie?" Landon sounded surprised, almost guilty. "Where's Hope?"

"Busy," Josie said coolly. "What do you want?"

Landon sighed. "Listen, I can't take Andrea to Disneyland today. Something came up at work."

Josie gripped the phone tighter. "Are you serious?"

"It's out of my control—"

"No, Landon, this is entirely in your control!" Josie snapped. "You promised her. Do you have any idea how much she was looking forward to this?"

"Josie, don't start—"

"I will start, because you clearly don't care enough to!" Her voice shook with anger. "You keep breaking your daughter's heart, Landon, and she keeps forgiving you. But one day, she won't.
One day, she'll stop waiting for you, and you'll realize too late that you lost the best thing you ever had."

Landon was silent.

"Don't bother calling again if all you're going to do is disappoint her," Josie finished, then hung up.

Hope stood in the doorway, arms crossed. "That was brutal."

Josie turned, still fuming. "He deserved it."

Hope sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Andrea's going to be crushed."

Andrea came into the room then, eyes bright with excitement. "Was that Dad? What time are we leaving?"